"Scapin"
Scapin by Bill Irwin & Mark O’Donnell based on a play by Moliere based on Commedia Dell’Arte sources, freely adapted by Jonathan Croy and company. Directed by Jonathan Croy.
In two one-hour segments separated by hours, or days, of intermission — depending on how you choose to see it, Shakespeare and Company is giving free performances of a classic comedy that has been freely adapted to a contemporary format.
Though the language and the references in this version are very contemporary, the physical look of the show is definitely pre-World War I and the and tone is distinctly indistinct. The combination of styles and visuals and the playing of this wonderfully over-the-top company make the entire experience a delight.
In brief, here’s the story: Argante has enagaged his son Octave to the unseen daughter of his neighbor Geronte. The two fathers have gone to fetch the girl, due in from Toronto, but in their absence Octave has married an orphan named Hyacinth. At the same time Geronte’s son Leander has pledged to marry a gypsy girl named Zerbinette if he can raise the money needed to buy her from the gypsies (she was an abducted child). To save them both from their fathers’ wraths, they employ their two house servants, Scapin and Sylvestre, to confound the older generation, secure them the money they need to fulfill their desires and to cover their escape. Into the mix comes a strange woman looking for a man no one has ever heard of in this place and she cannot be convinced that no one knows him. In the end, everything turns out to be for the best, but not until a lot of physical and verbal comedy has taken place and a folk song about the wished-for death of the unwanted daughter has been sung at least twice.
I know it doesn’t sound like its that much fun, but believe me, it is. Half the humor is in the script and half the humor is in the players and half the fun is in the direction and half the fun is in the audience. I know that’s four halves, but that’s just the way it goes in Scapin. Two wrongs do make a right turn and four halves make the hole through which we are plunged into this madcap world.
Michael F. Toomey plays the title role. Schemer-in-chief, pompous servant (and vengeful-when-wronged), he seems to never leave the stage, to never give an inch and yet he is the most generous of performers.He shares his best moments with others and even when he disguises himself to save himself a beating with a large stick, his playing has the sting of reality about it mostly through the back and forth reactions to both visually and verbally funny moments.
Marc Scipione, playing the guitar, donning a moustache, finding his center, is often Toomey’s equal, and almost his better, at the physical hysterics demanded of the two servant roles. Especially when they work together to astound and confuse their masters, Argante played by Bob Lohbauer and Geronte played by Steve Boss, Scipione and Toomey are a delectable and dynamic duo.
Boss is very funny as the extremely serious and angry Geronte. No tragedy is too great for this man as he drags his character down to the depths of despair over his son’s betrayal and his neighbor’s son’s betrayal as well. While he never moans, it would seem as though that is all he does and the effect is very funny. Lohbauer is a much lower-keyed senior in this play. As someone who refuses to accept bad news in any form he strikes a continuous note of misplaced optimism and it works as a refreshing counterpoint to the madness going on all around him.
The two sons are well represented by David Joseph as Octave and James Babcock as Leander. Joseph also sings the infamous song by Christopher Michael Vecchio and Jonathan Croy, "I Wish That She Would Die," with terrific lyrics expressed with lyrical tones. Their chosen wives are played by Gillian Hurst and Jennie Burkhard Jadow. Jadow’s gypsy girl is appropriately sultry for a blonde and Hurst makes Hyacinth into the least "precious" girl of her type.
Dana Harrison is the mystery woman. As she wanders to and fro through the play, her distinctly foreign accent a plus in her interpretation, she pulls focus from the main story and opens up a world of possibilities for Scapin who cannot help but admire her various accouterments. For him there is some sort of "deja-voodoo" about her. She has the only softly quiet moments in the show and they are lovely.
If you are fond of Zubin Mehta, hyperbole, Xerox, Hydrangea, Zirconia or Hibiscus, Scapin is the show you must see this summer. All the above make their brief appearance or appearances in this play where words and actions suit their purveyors. Jenna Ware’s costumes delineate the characters perfectly. Performed under a tent in the Rose Footprint where the replica of the Rose Theatre will one day be built, the carnival aspect of the show is, at least in part, what makes this free Bankside Festival event so wonderful.
Scapin plays through September 1 in the Rose Footprint Theater at Shakespeare and Company on Kemble Street in Lenox, MA. Tickets are required, but admission is FREE. Call the box office at 413-637-3353 for more information on schedule and for reservations.